I wanted to build a Soviet WW2 era warship in full hull in 1/700 to make my collection more rounded. There aren’t many (Combrig has excellent selection but sadly all is WL and that’s no go for me).

So inspired by Leon & Asmussen book on German warship camouflages I came to an idea of building a trophy ship instead. One of the pages there is a picture of destroyer leader Provornyy (sic) – pic attached.

Luckily Trumpeter makes a Z37 in 1/700 in full hull, which is almost the same as Z33 which was the Provornyj later in life. It will be close enough with few mods I reckon.

After the WW2 ended, the Soviets received the Z33, used it a little bit to determine in what condition it was, and then moved back to Germany for 3 years for full repairs. It was not a particularly great ship from the beginning but it was very fast for the Soviets and they kept it in service through 1955.

As far as I could tell they liked the ship though it was hard to maintain and required more manpower, it was heavily armed (5 150mm guns) and had excellent top speed which was much appreciated. The ship was in active service in Baltic Northern Fleet till mid 50s, after which it was turned into floating barracks and finally sunk as target in 1961. So quite a life for a warship that survived ww2 and went on to serve 20 years or so, first for Germany and then for Russia.

File comment: Right out of the box, the fit is ok but lower hull fit is poor, there will be issues... :( Typical Trumpeter, this is 3rd kit I have from them and exactly the same issue.IMG_3075s.jpg [ 146.58 KiB | Viewed 794 times ]

File comment: You can see provornyj in Background in focus, with other captured German destroyer in foreground I think. Note the black and white boot topping, new AA 37mm guns and different darker paint... Interesting time.163059 (1)ffsss.jpg [ 222.34 KiB | Viewed 792 times ]

File comment: final pic I have of it, also from some Russian site. the site had a story with it, that those who served said the "33" markings were showing through the poor soviet paint all the time - I gotta replicate this somehow later!fa3a7a7b7c7b (1).jpg [ 74.63 KiB | Viewed 777 times ]

Basic assembly is done, with front AA bridge rebuilt according to plans I dug out for Provorny. Once painted it starts to look a little nicer.

I decided to install railings before painting, something I regret a bit as I keep knocking them out. But they are the steel variants, very sturdy and fine, best Ive used thus far on my ships. But also hardest to work with. the good thing is Soviet ships railings on photos do look knackered often, and this being a 10+ year old ship in building phase is a bonus. So railings will look a bit worse for the wear, but thats OK!

Next are masts with soviet style radars (Ill use some spare American ones to approximate it, I dont have Soviet Radar set in PE), funnel innards.

Now setting it aside for the varnish to cure for a week, and then ill come back and do the final touches.

I ordered Soviet AA guns from NIKO but they are taking forever to deliver. Lets hope something comes in January as that would complete the build, and make it look a bit different to just reskinned Zerstorer.

Plaque will be modified a bit to reflect the new owners.

A fun little ship this is, I think it is now looking as intended. A 10+ year old destroyer, slightly worn out but still retaining its cool lines and in a different paint it certainly is unlike most other Zs we see online.

Haven't really updated this thread but I recently just finished the ship, sans the rigging.

Here it is, Provorny now equipped with soviet 37mm AA guns (6 of them, 2 singles, 4 twins). I actually took a bit of free license here - instead of 6 twin as on the ship in the end, I did 4 twins, and 2 singles because original plans called for 2 singles also next to twins on the middle deck near second funnel. Plans also called for only singe twin mound on the bridge. So Its kinda mix of both ideas, allowing for a lot of guns, but in variation.

Hope you like it! The next phase is rigging.

Better photos coming up as these seem to come out always weak from IG algo.

USSR Provorny, ca 1951-4 after it was modernized using soviet weaponry (depth charge launchers, radar, AA guns). The ship saw active service in Baltic Fleet with the Soviet Navy. It is an example of a tricky period, just end of the World War and start of the Cold war, when Allied navies used some of the german equipment, and tested it and modified it. Soviets would do something on bigger scale with their italian battleship as well. They also had few other german destroyers, torpedo boats and cruisers (Makarov), while others were expended as targets (Lutzow, Zeppelin). Provorny, which means smth like Agile or Nimble, was sunk in 1964 as target, having served as a floating barrack moored on Neva river for last few years of its life, often seen by residents (much like the early Hipper hull - another Lutzow - renamed Tallinn). It was a strange time.

It took few months but finally it is done, with Niko 37mm weaponry added in one theoretical configuration (the ship didn't carry them all in the end). One of the more interesting builds for me, but also Id never use the super fine metal railings as they were a total nightmare to handle. Ill stick to finer brass items. Trumpeter Z37 is not perfect for this role but possible to do the conversion by omitting certain parts, rather then installing extra parts. Namely adding 37mm AA guns which are super hard to scratch build.